Highway terror: Women's pleas unanswered by CHP

[one-shot-one]

sorry to pile on but

Typical brain dead female.She had an Infinity,he had a Jeep.She should have taken that Infinity up to 100 mph+ to outrun him.No way he could have kept up in a Jeep.

it said that it was a Jeep Cherokee. i had one in 2wd configuration. it would well exceed 100mph, i was "clocked" by a guy in a Benz at nearly 140!

 

[TallPine]

Springmom: I hope you will not leave THR over this because I enjoy reading your posts.

A person (male or female, "skilled" driver or not) should not have to drive at excessive and illegal speeds to protect their life.

It is a quandary what to do... 1) try to outrun the attacker on the hiway 2) maintain reasonable speed and be run off the road 3) stop and hope the attacker goes on (don't try this without a gun) ...?

Exiting off into a well lit and populated area is probably the best course, but what if you are out in the middle of nowhere (as was the case that I described)?

All I know is that - even almost 40 yrs later - I still get a pang in my gut when someone if front of me slows down suddenly for no apparent reason out on a lonely hiway.

 

[benEzra]

Springmom, please stay around. I don't think that attitude is typical of THR.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Typical testosterone poisoning trash. I thought this was the HIGH ROAD???

Springmom, thinking that the forum she left to come here has gotten a lot more civilized and this one's going a lot further down hill....

Sorry that guy popped off, mom. You've got a PM.

BTW, to all: my original contention still stands. The lady in the above article would have been better served to a) have a weapon, b) be skilled in its use and c) live in a state that would allow her to protect herself.

In that scenario, she could have pulled off the road, gotten her weapon ready, and then wait for the thug/trash to expose himself.

The posts that she should have accelerated to evade her attacker places her, and him, careening down the highway at breakneck speeds. Yeah, right.

 

[Moonclips]

In that scenario, she could have pulled off the road, gotten her weapon ready, and then wait for the thug/trash to expose himself.

Well, she didn't have a gun; so there goes your scenario. What were her options then?

 

[c_yeager]

It seems to me that once she was safely in the hands of local police that it was entirely appropriate that she became a low priority. Her situation was stable at that point and there was no longer any danger.

 

[Crosshair]

This is a VERY good example of why I would not want a Ford car with an automatic fuel-pump shutoff that kicks in when the car is bumped

Hmm, I crashed my 1998 Ford Contour (Their fault, failure to yield, "totaled" the car, got a nice fat check, and the car is still driveable. ) The impact was enough to deploy the airbags (They didn't do any good anyway since I was wearing my seatbelt.) But my car started right up when we moved the cars off the road.

 

[Parker Dean]

Hmm, I crashed my 1998 Ford Contour (Their fault, failure to yield, "totaled" the car, got a nice fat check, and the car is still driveable. ) The impact was enough to deploy the airbags (They didn't do any good anyway since I was wearing my seatbelt.) But my car started right up when we moved the cars off the road.

The piece of equipment benEzra is speaking of is the Inertia Switch. I would think that such a collision that would set off the supplemental restraint system would also trip the Inertia Switch, but I suppose it would depend on forces generated.

You can probably thank litigation for the existence of the Inertia Switch as it's purpose is to cut power to the fuel pump and prevent fires.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

Well, she didn't have a gun; so there goes your scenario. What were her options then?

That was her circumstance. No gun. No cops. No options except to depend upon luck.

My scenario included a gun. If there is no gun then it is not the scenario I depicted. Got it?

 

[benEzra]

Hmm, I crashed my 1998 Ford Contour (Their fault, failure to yield, "totaled" the car, got a nice fat check, and the car is still driveable. ) The impact was enough to deploy the airbags (They didn't do any good anyway since I was wearing my seatbelt.) But my car started right up when we moved the cars off the road.

May be just the Crown Vic and the Mercury Brontosaurus or whatever it's called. I've only ever heard it discussed in the context of the Vic. I was reading on one automotive forum (IIRC) that a CV owner's shutoff kicked in once when he hit a curb, IIRC.

 

[Moonclips]

Yeah, right

This is what you also wrote, Pinned,

BTW, to all: my original contention still stands. The lady in the above article would have been better served to a) have a weapon, b) be skilled in its use and c) live in a state that would allow her to protect herself.

So, you're scenario is not applicable plus your original contention is also nada. So, basically you're saying 'shoulda... coulda... woulda...'. Might as well say 'she shoulda get a black belt in karate; wait for the guy to come near and give him a roundhouse kick'. But you see that's another 'coulda.. shoulda... woulda...' GOT IT??

 

[griz]

Earlier I wrote that is she had been armed it probably would not have changed anything. A little clarification: I would want to be armed in that situation. I don't have illusions of a rolling gun battle, but being armed at least gives you options that are missing otherwise. My only point is that as the story was presented, there was no point when she would have reasonably fired.

 

[captainkirk]

Fuel cut off

May be just the Crown Vic and the Mercury Brontosaurus or whatever it's called. I've only ever heard it discussed in the context of the Vic. I was reading on one automotive forum (IIRC) that a CV owner's shutoff kicked in once when he hit a curb, IIRC.

My old 90? Mercury Topaz had it too. I had a tread seperate on a back tire (the tire stayed inflated, just lost the outer layer of tread) and it shut off the fuel. You had to push a button in the trunk or other some such to get it going again if memory serves. Sold it years ago...

captainkirk

 

[Phyphor]

Typical brain dead female.She had an Infinity,he had a Jeep.She should have taken that Infinity up to 100 mph+ to outrun him.No way he could have kept up in a Jeep.

That assumes too many things:

1 - Road conditions were good enough to allow for 100+ mph travel...
2 - Her powertrain was in good enough shape to allow for it
3 - The jeep wasn't hopped way up

 

[Sir Aardvark]

"We really have the same number of officers in our department we had in the early '70s and, unfortunately, the population has doubled," he said.

Hmm.... maybe hire more officers???

Good thing we're spending all of our tax dollars on our failed education system and also locking up non-violent offenders in our failed prison system.

Maybe the legislature can start a commission (which most likely would be comprised of thier wives and major campaign donors) to study the problem and give recommendations on how to blow more of our money with the least benefit to all.

 

[Meplat]

Typical brain dead female.She had an Infinity,he had a Jeep.

Hate to say it, but a typical brain dead response. Horse hockey like that don't cut no ice.

She should have taken that Infinity up to 100 mph+ to outrun him.No way he could have kept up in a Jeep.

Oh, and YOU, on the other hand, I suppose, are trained in evasive driving tactics in traffic at night in the fog. RIGHT. Isn't everyone???

 

[AJ Dual]

it said that it was a Jeep Cherokee. i had one in 2wd configuration. it would well exceed 100mph, i was "clocked" by a guy in a Benz at nearly 140!

+1 on that. If this was a "Jeep Cherokee", i.e. Not a "Grand", in good condition, lower weight because of only 2WD etc. That 4.0L in-line six will move it, and move it well.

All the criticisim of the woman is uncalled for. We only have third-hand media filtered accounts to go by. Those that heard the audio are still only getting a second-hand picture of what's going on.

The only thing I have to add to road-rage incidents is that if you are stoped and the #&#^@* gets out of his car, he just abandoned his two-ton weapon, while you're still at the wheels of yours.

Cars: Heavy + Hard + Fast = Squishy Road-Rager

Also, modern auto windshields with a decent slope will deflect most handgun ammunition, even up to the magnums. Unless a shooter is on my hood aiming in at 90 degrees to the glass, the bullet will glance off. If you can ever safely shoot a wrecked car with an intact windshield, it's very enlightening.

I would not want to face a car with only a handgun, much less a tire iron. Assuming I had no other viable exit, even if I were armed, if an armed road-rager gets out of his car, I'm flooring it, right over him.

 

[PinnedAndRecessed]

This is what you also wrote, Pinned,


So, you're scenario is not applicable plus your original contention is also nada. So, basically you're saying 'shoulda... coulda... woulda...'. Might as well say 'she shoulda get a black belt in karate; wait for the guy to come near and give him a roundhouse kick'. But you see that's another 'coulda.. shoulda... woulda...' GOT IT??

You're babbling. Drop it.

 

[Meplat]

I agree with dialing 1911. But disagree on the next statement. The police are paid by you, the taxpayer, to do their job --- part of which is protecting the taxpaying public.

SHOULD be that way, but the courts have time and again upheld the rulings that LEO's are under NO obligation to provide for your defense nor mine, nor are they liable for any bodily harm that may befall ANY citizen due to inaction on their part.

Now back to the story ===> with drivers of equal and above-average abilities the Infiniti should leave the older-model Jeep Cherokee in the dust.

SHOULD be. If not for the fact that surrounding traffic was involved, darkness was upon the land, I don't know about the road conditions, but some others in here state that they know for a fact that the road is a mess,
and VERY few people are trained in evasive driving manuvers.

Also, the passenger should be the one on the phone so that the driver can concentrate on the driving. But who knows, she may have been so panicked or the passenger was mute.

Agreed. Although panic IS a major factor in unfolding events, and is not governed by which set of sexual organs a person posesses. Ask anyone who has been in a firefight alongside a cherry recruit. Ideally, the passenger SHOULD have had a cell phone in one hand, and been firing at their assailant with the other.

 

[Moonclips]

Drop it.

OK, I'll drop it. For peace's sake. Just don't go about saying she had no options just because she didn't have a gun. I would rather she had a firearm. But since she didn't, she had to depend on herself. That said, I'm glad things didn't turn out worse. Over and out.

 

[Rockrivr1]

I think the best thing she did was stay on the highway and kept avoiding the jeep as best she could. I'm not sure getting off the highway and getting to a public place would of been her best option. In deserted areas like that the only thing she may of run into was a few gas stations. If the guy had a gun and was doing what he was doing I doubt he would of stopped at that point. So you'd end up at a gas station with an unarmed clerk working and a guy with a gun now at the same gas station. Still not a good scenario for those ladies.

I will say though that I agree that there's more to this story. By her story it seemed like the other driver was more into a road rage situation then one of trying to get them off the road to assault them. If they guy was trying to rob them, I would think his first pass would be to hit them when the driver was still in condition white. Make it look more like an accident where they would pull over thinking the other driver was an idiot or something. This sounds like something else to me. A pissed of guy looking to scare someone. Why else would the guy bail once his vehicle was damaged if that was his intent all along.

Who know, maybe the infinity wasn't theirs. Maybe a parent/boyfriend or something and the car got damaged and they made the story as as a cover up. Seems weird that the driver made the 911 call. Also seems strange that no one has come forward to back up their story or called 911 seeing this frantic scene play out in front of them.

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

Obviously, the lesson from this story is that we need more police.

 

[sumpnz]

The Infiniti's driver, recounting the story Monday, said the sudden appearance of the Jeep on her rear bumper confused her at first.

She had no sooner merged onto the fast lane of the freeway, she said, "when all of a sudden the vehicle in back came right up on me. He almost hit me.

Sounds to me like she inadvertantly cut him off and he flipped his lid in response. Nothing can excuse his behavior, but a little more situational awareness would have probably kept her from being in that situation in the first place. I've got $10 that says she was too distracted yakking with her friend, and didn't realize that a) she cut the guy off and b) was probably slow-poking it. I've seen any number of drivers (male and female) do just that on at least a weekly basis (sometimes it's cell phones or kids or whatever rather than another adult passanger).

In the end though, a gun might have helped had she not done such a good job avoiding his attempts to run her off the road and keeping her car under control when he did ram her. If he was willing to brandish a gun at them while driving something tells me he'd have little cumpunction firing at them had he gotten them stopped.

 

[No_Brakes23]

Typical brain dead female.She had an Infinity,he had a Jeep.She should have taken that Infinity up to 100 mph+ to outrun him.No way he could have kept up in a Jeep.

The Churky will pull 115mph easy. I've done it in mine. It's a bear to change lanes at that speed though. It weighs between 2890 and 3200 lbs, though, so she could have just shoved the Jeep off the road with the heavier Infiniti. Her IFS/IRS chassis probably recovers better at that speed than the solid axle leaf sprung Jeep.

Bettin' I coulda flipped that Jeep (high center of gravity)....But i used to race dirt track stock cars

There's a big difference between a Land Rover Disco or an Ford Excursion and the Cherokee. I am certain a cop could PIT it pretty easy, but they don't tip as easily as folks think.

But really, none of that is relevant. Anyway if she PITted him, she might be in trouble.

I think she might have hit him, and then called the cops with a sob story. Who knows?

 

[thatguy]

Since the discussion has morphed into defensive driving techniques, my favorite way to deal with a pursurer is get him behind me and then slam on the brakes. If he has airbags he now has a face full of hot plastic and with any luck I drive away with rear end damage while he's dealing with a smashed radiator meaning in about two minutes he has an over-heated engine. Only for a seriously scary situation, of course.